1979 Formula One season

The 1979 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors
which were contested concurrently over a fifteen round series which
commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on October 7. The season also
included three non-championship Formula One races.

Race-by-Race

Race One: Argentina

Like in previous years, the opening race of the season was in Argentina. Most people expected the Lotus cars driven by defending champion Mario Andretti, and his new teammate Carlos Reutemann to dominate but, to many people's suprise, it was the Ligier team that dominated qualifying, with Jacques Laffite on pole ahead of Patrick Depailler,
leaving Reutemann to qualify third. Laffite led at the start with
Depailler following, but the two men starting on the third row, John Watson in the McLaren collided with Jody Scheckter's Ferrari creating chaos behind. Four other cars were collected and race was red-flagged, and none were injured.

The race restarted after the mess was cleared, and this time Depailler set off into the lead with Jean-Pierre Jarier's Tyrrell
and Watson (in his spare car) following him. But soon Laffite was up to
second, and a few laps later he took the lead from Depailler. The
Ligiers drove away, whereas Jarier struggled and dropped down the order
with engine troubles, leaving Watson third before he was passed a
recovering Reutemann. Laffite went on and won comfortably, but teammate
Depailler suffered a misfire and dropped to fourth, leaving Reutemann
second and Watson third.

Race Two: Brazil

The drivers stayed in South America for the second round which was
held in Brazil, and the Ligiers were in top form again, Laffite taking
pole comfortably with Depailler alongside, with the Lotuses led by
Reutemann on the second row. This time, Laffite was able to lead right
from the first corner with Reutemann taking second from Depailler, but
Depailler regained the place soon after and Andretti also passed his
teammate to take third. Andretti however soon retired with a misfire,
and so Reutemann was back in third. Laffite dominated the race and again
won easily, with Depailler making it a 1-2 for Ligier and Reutemann
cimpleting the podium.

Race Three: South Africa

There was a six-week break before the race in South Africa. In the high-altitude circuit, Jean-Pierre Jabouille took pole in the turbocharged Renault and home hero Jody Scheckter put his Ferrari second on grid, just in front of teammate Gilles Villeneuve,
and the Ligiers were only on the third row. Jabouille led at the start
with Villeneuve and Scheckter following, but Villeneuve took the lead on
second lap before the race was stopped by a rainshower.

When the race restarted, most drivers were on wets, but Scheckter and
a few others opted for slicks. Villeneuve led at the restart and built
up a gap, but the track dried and he had to pit for slicks along with
most of the field. This left Scheckter leading comfortably, and he
looked well set for a home win until he had to pit for new tyres,
handing the lead back to Villeneuve and in behind, Patrick Tambay
briefly ran third in his McLaren, until he was passed by Jarier. It was
Villeneuve who won the race with Scheckter close behind, and Jarier
taking the final spot on the podium.

Race Four: United States West

One month after the South Africa race, the field went to the Long
Beach circuit in the US. Qualifying saw Villeneuve taking his first
career pole position with Reutemann alongside him on the front row ahead
of Scheckter. Before the race started, Reutemann suffered an electrical
failure and had to start from the pits. After a string of failed
attempts to start the race due to different reasons, the race finally
started with Villeneuve leading Depailler and Scheckter, but soon Jarier
was up to second. As Villeneuve set about building a gap, Jarier and
Depailler battled for second but Scheckter passed both of them mid-race.
Towards the end, Jarier began to drop back rapidly with a vibration, so
Depailler finally got third but not for long as Alan Jones's Williams
was past him. That was how the race finishing, Villeneuve winning ahead
of Scheckter in another Ferrari 1-2, and Jones giving the Williams team
their second ever podium with third.

Race Five: Spain

After another long break, this time for three weeks, the Spanish GP
took place and here the Ligiers struck back at Ferrari, with Laffite on
pole again with Depailler ensuring a front-row lockout leaving
Villeneuve third. At the start, Depailler took the lead from Laffite,
and Reutemann who has a brilliant start was up to third ahead of
Villeneuve. The Ligers ran 1-2 comfortably until Laffite's engine blew
up, leaving Reutemann second, and Andretti third after Villeneuve spun
attempting to pass Reutemann. With his teammate out, Depailler was able
to cruise to victory ahead of Reutemann and Andretti who ensured a
double podium for Lotus.

Race Six: Belgium

The sixth race of the season was in Belgium, where Laffite surprised
no one with pole, and Depailler surprised no one with second, but Nelson Piquet surprised many by qualifying his Brabham
third. Once again, it was Depailler who got the best start, and led
with Jones up to second ahead of Piquet with Laffite dropping down to
fourth. In the early stages, Laffite was on the charge, as he passed
first Piquet, then Jones and finally Depailler as he took the lead. As
the race progressed, the Ligiers suffered from tyre trouble and so Jones
took the lead until he retired with an electrical failure which handed
the lead back to Depailler (who had repassed Laffite) until he crashed
out, so Laffite inherited the lead until he was passed by Scheckter.
Scheckter went on and took his first win for Ferrari ahead of Laffite,
with Didier Pironi completing the podium in his Tyrrell.

Race Seven: Monaco

The next race was the illustrious Monaco GP, and in qualifying, it
was Scheckter who was on pole with teammate Villeneuve alongside,
restricting Depailler to the second row. At the start, Scheckter kept
the lead with double world champion Niki Lauda
featuring at the front for the first time this year by jumping up to
second ahead of Villeneuve, but it took only 3 laps for Villeneuve to
get past and follow his teammate in driving away from the field.

Lauda kept third until Pironi tried to pass him, which resulted in a
collision and both retiring. This put Jones up to third until he retired
with steering troubles which brielfy handed the place to Arrows driver Jochen Mass, but soon Jones's Wiliams teammate, Clay Regazzoni
took the place, which became second when Villeneuve retired with a
transmission failure. With Villeneuve out, Scheckter had no more
challengers to his lead and won comfortably, with Regazzoni finishing
second and Reutemann taking third.

Race Eight: France

With the Swedish GP cancelled due to a lack of funding, it was the
French GP that was next up. The home fans did get an all-French front
row, but instead of the usual Ligiers, it were the two turbocharged
Renaults who were in dominant form, Jean-Pierre Jabouille on pole ahead
of René Arnoux
and Villeneuve. At the start, Villeneuve beat Jabouille into the first
corner, with Scheckter third after Arnoux had a bad start. As the front
two began to drive away from the field, Arnoux began a charge up the
order, and by mid-race he was back in third. In the second half of the
race, the two Renaults found another gear, and Jabouille drove past
Villeneuve to take the lead, and Arnoux began to close him down and
caught him with four laps left. Jabouille won much to the happiness of
the fans, and they received much more entertainment behind as Villeneuve
and Arnoux battled for second for four laps, banging wheels repeatedly,
and ultimately it was Villeneuve who prevailed.

Race Nine: Great Britain

The second half of the year started in Britain, and now the Williams
had found new speed, and Jones qualified it on pole ahead of Jabouille
who was continuing his good form with Nelson Piquet again qualifying his
Brabham third. Jones led into the first corner ahead of Jabouille, with
Regazzoni up to third. The front three ran in the same order until
Jabouille ran into tyre trouble and had to pit, leaving Regazzoni second
and Arnoux third. Jones looked set to win but he had to retire with an
overheating engine, so Regazzoni took the lead and went on to win,
giving the Williams team their first ever F1 victory, with Arnoux second
and Jean-Pierre Jarier third.

Race Ten: Germany

The tenth race of the year was held in Germany, and on the fast
track, Jabouille took pole with Jones completing the front row, and
Laffite next up. Jones got the jump on Jabouille at the start, which
Scheckter briefly up to third until Laffite regained back the place.
Jones held off intense pressure from Jabouille in the early stages of
the race, until the latter tried too hard and spun off giving second to
Laffite and third to Regazzoni. Regazzoni was soon past Laffite, and the
two Williams cars dominated the rest of race, with Jones getting his
first win of the season and Regazzoni completing the 1-2 leaving Laffite
to take the final spot on the podium.

Season review

The following races counted towards the 1979 World Championship of F1
Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

-The Swedish Grand Prix was supposed to be held at Anderstorp between
the Monaco and French Grands Prix, but because of Swedish drivers
Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson's deaths in 1978, Swedish enthusiasm
for the sport faded and as a result, there was no money for the race to
be held.